Biesemeyer to speak at ESWG

February 4, 2014

LAKE PLACID - U.S. Ski Team athlete Tommy Biesemeyer of Keene will deliver the keynote speech Thursday night at the Empire State Winter Games opening ceremony in the Olympic Center.

Omar Bermejo, an adaptive cross-country skier, will give the athlete oath. The ceremony is free, open to the public and will begin at 6 p.m.

Biesemeyer is a product of the New York Ski Educational Foundation at Whiteface Mountain and a graduate of National Sports Academy in Lake Placid. He has raced as a member of the U.S. Ski Team in recent years.

Article Photos

U.S. Ski Team athlete Tommy Biesemeyer of Keene competes at Golden Peak in Vail, Colo. He will deliver the Empire State Winter Games keynote speech Thursday at the Olympic Center.Photo by Eric Schramm/U.S. Ski Team

Biesemeyer was in contention this winter for nomination to the Sochi Winter Olympic Games, but a knee injury ended those hopes. After subsequent surgery leading to rehabilitation, Biesemeyer is now studying at the University of Vermont. He will return to address the more than 1,000 athletes expected to gather for the Games on the eve of the Sochi Opening Ceremony.

A skier since the age of 3, Biesemeyer won the overall 2011 North American Ski Trophy Series. He also added the super combined title that season. At the 2011 U.S. Championships he raced to a silver medal in super-G.

Bermejo of Grand Rapids, Mich., will compete in the ESWG before departing for Sochi next month to race in the Paralympic Games.

The opening ceremony of the Empire State Winter Games, presented by Hannaford Supermarkets, will also include barrel-jumping and a synchronized skating exhibition.

The Games will take place Thursday through Sunday in and around the Tri-Lakes region, extending to Tupper Lake for the first time, where women's hockey will be contested in the civic center.